Jo Anne Hook was born in Victoria, Australia in 1952. The eldest of five children, she grew up in a small county town with little financial backing or encouragement towards a career in art. In those days an artist was thought of as one who lived on the poverty line in an attic somewhere in a big city. Despite this she began drawing and winning prizes in the local art competitions, and knew that she would want to continue it somehow.
A teaching career was an option, and she managed to win a small scholarship to get through high school, then a teaching bursary to help through Art College. She soon realised however, that teaching was not for her, and she found work in a graphic design studio in Melbourne.
From here she learnt the fine points of design and a disciplined work ethic. In her spare time she experimented in developing her own style of painting and held a few small mildly successful exhibitions. After working in different art studios and advertising agencies in Melbourne, Jo Anne began to travel. She spent time in England and Europe producing soft pastel drawings of the English countryside to pay her way. She then returned to Australia and based herself in Sydney where work in illustration was her goal. For two years she had a successful career working on major magazines and publications, illustrating short stories and childrens' books, as well as advertising art. Through it all she wanted to work towards her own "style", and finally decided to leave the commercial and frantic world of advertising and to take a year off and see what she could develop on her own.
In 1979 she left Sydney for the peace and tranquillity of a country home in far North Queensland. Here she had a plentiful supply of subject matter, and experimented, using or discarding what she had learnt in her 10 - 15 years of artistic experience.
Soon a style of her own developed, based on her love of colour, pattern and design. Combined with her love of composition, and the inspiration of the lush surrounds of Reef and Rainforest, her own unique style was born.
Her original paintings in acrylics and gouache on handmade linen paper were soon in great demand. She had a number of sell-out exhibitions and soon realised she could not keep up with demand. This prompted her to produce high quality limited edition prints, which made it more accessible to collectors of her art.
Through the ensuing years Jo Anne's work has won numerous prizes and awards. She has received commissions from various international hotels, Australian Airlines, and international companies, such as IBM Japan.
Her own exclusive gallery was opened in Cairns in 1988, with others following at the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, and overseas. The Galleries operated at varying times for a period of sixteen years.
In the meantime, over the past twenty years, Jo Anne has been busy as a Mother foremost, including her family on appearance tours when necessary in Japan, Europe, and the USA.
At the present time, with her children now more independent, Jo Anne is concentrating on new directions in her life and career. She is working on larger paintings on canvas and planning a major exhibition in 2008.
Travel has always been a passion, with inspiration coming from new experiences and places she has visited. She has a studio at the Gold Coast, Australia, and another in the South of France, and likes to divide her time between the two, with her usual visit to Japan once a year.